Bobbi Models in Lac St. Joseph

Bobbi has wanted to do water nudes since she started working with me in May, but the plans had never come together to facilitate a session until this one. Ironically enough, it was in Quebec that we
found a small stream to work in. I'd driven Bobbi and Miranda up to Quebec as a favour (it was cheaper for them to pay for the gas than a train or bus ticket and as a new driver, I was eager to try an extended drive), but also with the idea that during the full day I was taking between driving up and back, I would be able to work with the two models in a totally different province.

8"x10" film

As it turned out, the hard part was not the models, who were traveling with me but finding a place to work in Quebec. Though we met up with a Quebecois photographer, Jean-François O'Kane, he was not terribly familiar with the part of the province around Quebec City, so we ended up driving for more then ninety minutes before we finally found a location that would work for the session - ironically enough, a small stream that could just have easily been in New Brunswick as Quebec. It seemed strange to have driven for seven hours, only to work with a landscape so familiar, but by the time we came across the stream, we were running out of time and patience, and decided to take advantage of what was offered to us.

8"x10" film

As it turned out, just like at Neville Lake and la Dune de Bouctouche, Miranda wasn't interested in modeling with the stream; since her hair has grown so long, she has been reluctant to get it wet, given how long it takes to dry off. Bobbi (with much shorter hair) had been quite keen to model in water so she and I headed upstream away from the road to see what possibilities presented themselves to us.

8"x10" film

As it turned out, the river had a small set of rock rapids just out of sight from the road and it was with these that we spent most of the session working. The water was colder than I'd expected (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick water gets quite warm by midsummer), but Bobbi assured me she could model for a while and would let me know when she had had enough. Though I was working with my 8"x10" camera, I kept the images coming as swiftly as possible and managed to expose ten sheets of nine compositions before the cold water finally defeated Bobbi and she had to come out and dry off. In the end, we didn't even work with full immersion images (the water was just too cold), but the results of the session are pleasing nonetheless, with the strong lines of Bobbi's body set amidst the fluid wash of the stream.